The Nitecore NU05 is a new, super lightweight headlamp from Nitecore. They sent one over to me to review along with their popular hiking headlamp NU25.
The NU05 is pretty purpose-built: it’s made to be extremely lightweight, small, and simple to use. It comes with a headstrap, it can be stuck to the back of another headlamp to act as a rear indicator, you can pop it on like a wrist indicator, or you can attach it to your bike. It’s got a built-in lithium battery that can be recharged via USB micro cable, and the NU05 sells for about $15.
NU05 vs NU05LE: There’s also an LE version that has blue and green LEDs, as well as a velcro mount. I think the LE version is aimed at the law enforcement market.
Battery Life:
Button Usability
Super straight forward. Click to rotate between:
- Low power red LED blinking
- Higher power slow red blinking
- Higher power fast red blinking
- White blinking
- White solid on (flood beam pattern)
Hold down the button to indicate power level (3 blinks for lots battery, 2 for mid, 1 for low)
So what can you use this for?
It’s very small and light, but what can you use it for?
As a main headlamp, the NU05 could only be used in some circumstances. It doesn’t have enough battery to last for more than 1 hour with the solid 35 lumen white light, but if you’re hiking in the summertime with long hours and you only need a light for going to the washroom at night, that’d be fine. Just think of the weight savings. If you work on a farm and just need a headlamp just in case, it’s super easy to stuff into a pocket or a quad box.
As a backup headlamp, the NU05 can make a lot of sense. It fits on to the 1″ headbands used by many other headlamps, so you could stick it on the side or back fairly easily and just have it handy as backup. The smaller battery is quick to recharge and will sip juice from your battery bank.
As an indicator to be used in groups of people, the NU05 is very well suited. You can stick it to the back of a headlamp and turn on blinking red so it’s easy for people to know where you’re at if you’re hiking at night. Battery life on the red indicator modes is well long enough to be used for extended periods. Because the light clips to bands fairly easily, it could also be clipped to MOLLE straps on a chest rig, body armor, or backpack.
In the off-times when you’re not using the NU05 as an ultralight hiking headlamp or indicator, it’s usable as a bike indicator or light. It comes with rubber straps that’d hold it on to a bike so that you can either use it as a flood front light or as a red rear light. As a front light, 35 lumens with a wide flood pattern might not be enough if you bike at high speed. The white blinking on the front is definitely enough to use as a bike indicator.
Conclusion
At around $15, it’s cheap insurance against a main headlamp breaking or failing, it’s light, and you can use it on your bike when you’re not hiking. If you’re hiking in the summer months when the days are super long, it might cover all you need.
